Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $210.7857.

TRGP has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $214.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $198.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total value of $3,444,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,812,557.19. This trade represents a 47.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,356,748.81. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter valued at about $708,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $121,426,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 441.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 675,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $117,565,000 after purchasing an additional 550,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 306.6% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 601,370 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $104,686,000 after purchasing an additional 453,460 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $176.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.87. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.48.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.02). Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.19%.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.